yo wazzup pinterest

Welcome to another edition of Stuff I Found on Pinterest That Ended Up Being Awesomesauce!  This time I've even added a coupla phone pics of the end product to show what they look like in the real world.  Or at least in the Reva barely-passable world.  But they still worked, so booya!

I love cilantro but I never end up using all of it.  I hate HATE throwing away wilted cilantro.  It's seriously depressing.  So I went searching for solutions and found a nice recipe for a cilantro-lime pesto with directions to freeze it for later.  I froze it in an ice cube tray (I only had star shaped) and defrosted a few the next time we had fish tacos and it was super yummy.  Plus it made me feel 14 kinds of cool so that's nice.

We made a sugar scrub in my MOPS group and it was the simplest ingredient list ever - so I had to make my own when it was all gone.  2 ingredients - lavender scented baby oil and sugar.  It was super exfoliating and my legs appreciated the whole 28 seconds it took to mix it all up.

I've mentioned before that I make my own laundry detergent, but I was never comfortable making dishwashing detergent with Borax.  I found a recipe without it AND directions for making them into individual tabs.  So far it's worked out great, it took less than 5 minutes to make them and again, I get the added bonus of feeling cool about myself.

Moms love pictures of their kids and grandkids.  With my mom breaking her leg this winter, I thought that she'd like some wearable pictures for Mother's Day while she laid on the couch.  I found lots of tutorials that involved clear stones and Mod Podge and a lot of other things I could totally see myself screwing up, but then I found this tutorial that used Epiphany Crafts adhesive bubbles with charms to match.  I went to Walmart to get the supplies to make the bracelet and ordered the Epiphany stuff on Amazon - with the usual result of me being overly proud of myself.

A few other things of awesome note:

Ken Jennings Junior Genius guide books are super great and WonderGirl approved.  We're digging the geography one lately.

Three great FHE lessons we've used were this one for Lehi's Dream, this one for the Plan of Salvation and this one on testimonies.

Lastly, I used this diy body wrap a little while after having Thing 3 and it helped my body feel a little more like myself.  I didn't notice losing inches off my waist (maybe a centimeter or two, just water weight), but it tightened up my skin and that felt heavenly, post-baby.

Letter to my daughter #3

I love you.  That being said, I have some sad reality to share.

There are people who will not like you.  And it's going to hurt.

I can tell you not to take it personally, but it's really hard not to.  The thing is to just accept that it will hurt and move on.

The most important advice I can give you on this is this:

DON'T FORGET TO BE AWESOME.

You can't control what judgement people make.  You CAN control how you feel, how you react.  You can control you.  You are not other people's words or opinions.  No matter what is ever said or done, nothing can take away the fact that first and foremost, you are a daughter of God.  He loves you beyond measure, and that is the opinion that counts.

That being said, here are a few things I have found that help pick me up and get me going in the right direction:

Call someone who loves you (you are very blessed to have a long list) and tell them straight out "I am having a rough day and I need a pick-me-up."  I do that to Gamma all the time, and I will also gladly do it for you too.

Do something nice for someone else.  Nothing works better to get rid of negative energy than by replacing it with some positive.

Shut the windows, turn the music up and dance.  DANCE.

Crowd your brain with good thoughts and good memories.  There is something about the negative things people say - it's like they take up twice the size of any of the compliments we receive.  So you need to have a flood of happy memories ready to go.  So in the in-between times, your job it to make as many happy memories and good friends as you can.  They save you in the lean times.

So when you get hurt - especially if it's on purpose - remember this:

Be smart.  Be intelligent.  Go out there and do something amazing.

floor show

Both my mom and the awesome Elizbeth-the-cellist (that's how I refer to her in casual conversation) have wonked up one knee each so I really need to step up my blogging game to entertain them. 

But in reality, it's just gonna be the usual quantity over quality, which is kinda my wheelhouse.   So here's a super tame pic of what happens when Thing 3 is in a room for longer than 30 seconds. 

This here is why blogging is sparse. But if you wanna come follow this mini-Godzilla around my house, I could come up with some epic posts... hey mom, Elizabeth - any requests??  Anything for my favorite gimps!  :)

whaaaaaaaaa

You guys - something is happening.  Years of having tiny children who go spastic every time I try to talk to another adult has given me an aversion to people.  I was the ultimate extrovert but I'm tipping wwaaaayyyyy to the introvert side.  Who ever saw that coming??

Think about it - it's Pavlovian.  Every time I stop in public and talk to another person, my kids start flopping all over the ground or running out a door so I'm distracted and I say whatever is on the front of my brain without thinking (which is a dangerous zone)  and then I feel awful afterwards because a) the kids did something completely mortifying or b) I said something completely mortifying.  So now when the phone rings or a person looks at me to talk, I literally get sick to my stomach.  

I hate social stuff.  I only want to talk to my mom, my kids, the dude I married and a small assortment of college friends and family members.  I'm TURNING INTO MY HUSBAND.  

I even get a little nauseous when people who aren't those people text me and expect texts in return.

I just got called to the nursery at church and I am SO FREAKING EXCITED about it.  I thought I'd hate it but I love it.  I've been in the presidency of 3 other organizations in less than 4 years and all I want is to be locked up in a room with toddlers who I don't have to make small talk with.  And if they freak out at the dumb stuff I say, they'll just roll around on the floor and scream.  And THAT is something I can handle.

And then coming up with a witty ending to blog posts is just... dang.  I'm freaking out.  No joke.  

WHO AM I AND WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH ME??